There's no way I'd trust Microsoft with that kind of information! They're a large company, with many employees, some whom would probably be the ones looking at that information. In XP, you don't have to send the crash information, but if you HAVE to in Longhorn, then there would be absolutely no way I'd ever use it! I think I may just switch over to Linux...when I can get it. I don't really care if that information could help them prevent crashes. That's too much info to send, especially for an error report.

I think that Micro$oft is pushing his luck... Eventually, Linux and other alternative operating systems will become more and more user friendly and more functional than ever, and when you combine that fact with the word "free", you will get allot of ex-Windows users!

Besides... If Micro$oft would spend a little more time fixing and beta-testing their software than developing error reporting systems, maybe this whole mess could have been avoided!

Linux is open source. That means that every person on this planet can have full access to the Linux source code and detect/fix any error that he/she encounters. At Micro$oft, only a handful of employees have the full access to the Windows source code, and they have their hands full when there is a need to detect and repair bugs and errors!

I will never see the Microsoft employees at work while reading my error report, so nobody can guarantee that they are not reading my e-mails or taking a peek at my passwords! Creepy!

Maybe they will be able to see if somebody's Windows XP copy is a legal one by using these error reports! (Maybe that’s the point of error reporting, because I doubt that a bunch of hex code can help them very much with the process of fixing the error)

All of this does not seem like an important thing right away, but I would recommend reading the 2nd chapter (part two) from the Kevin Mitnick's book "Art Of Deception": "When Innocuous Information Isn't"

The title speaks for itself.

-__________- now that microsoft will be doing that to the new version of windows. that would make alot of people pissed off about it. When they have all this imformation... dont you think that people might try and hack into microsoft's stuff and get imformationa bout ppl? think of alllll the things microsoft can get with longhorns. me... iono but i think thats just stupid to do that sort of thing....

Hi all,
good comments.. some ppl forgot to vote though

Keep the comments coming..
RGPHNX

Hmmmmm... Maybe!

Everybody knows what is Micro$oft and how much money does it have, so allot of people are trying to penetrate into their servers every minute! The bigger you are, a bigger bulls eye can be placed on you!

Error reporting workstations have to be online as much as possible (uptime 99,99% at least)! Those workstations use Micro$oft's software, and everybody knows how often do security patches get available - usually a few weeks after the security issue has been discovered (that's because it takes allot of time to discover the error and make a solution, like I said in my previous post).

One day, a high-risk security issue will be discovered, and an attacker will be able to collect personal information from the error reports, information like:

-The name of the person that submitted the error report - not very dangerous
-The e-mail of that person - dangerous, can lead to loads of spam, "phishing", etc.
-A credit card number - very dangerous

Micro$oft can put their shields down for only one minute, and ... bang!

However, because of this possibility, Micro$oft has focused on developing security updates in the last few years (such as Service Pack 2) and the new Longhorn will be more secure than ever! (I hope...)
They probably have their hard disks encrypted, the workstation internet access limited to send information to only one IP address and they probably check their employees very often.

Even though gaining access to the Micro$oft servers is almost impossible, there are a whole lot of people just sitting there... staring at Micro$oft like vultures and waiting for it to make a wrong move.

PS: Micro$oft <--- it's a habit to use a "$" every time instead of the letter "s"

I wouldnt call any of this spyware. Windows XP has that feature enabled by default anyways, and that reports back to Microsoft if a prgram crashed.

I am sure that Longhorn has an option to turn that feature off, just like how Windows XP currently has.

I will probably stick with Windows XP anyway because I dont like the new feel of Longhorn, but the new Windows FileSystem seems to be nice.

Spyware in Longhorn? Doesn't Windows have it, too?

They discover your preferred sites on the internet using the software Alexa, and they have many features to send information about you to microsoft when f.e. a program crashes.

But its good to know that there are programs like XP-Antispy which disables these functions. I think sth. like that will come out for Longhorn too.

Hi all,
Good responses..keep them coming !

just some things to consider:

Most ppl are more than a little "lazy" and/or "un-informed" when it comes to responsible "safe" computer use..
> 40% + of all people who surf the internet have NO firewalls.. at all.(port vulnerabilities)
> 55% of all people have un-updated or No antivirus programs ..at all.
> 50% + of all people still open e-mail attachments from ppl they don't know.(Outlook Express)
> 30% of all computers are infected with virus, worms, trojans & spyware.
> Most ppl still have "file sharing" turned on in their computers..(they have no idea what kind of info their computer can "share" without their knowledge).(Windows feature)
> Most people havn't "protected" their HOSTS file against attack (Windows feature)

Most of these "vulnerabilities" were brought to you by Micro$oft in the first place.

So.. whats the chance that ...people will take the time to "turn off" the error reporting (file sharing) to Micro$oft when Windows crashes?
So.. what's the possibility that.... Micro$oft will design security features to keep your confidential information TRUELY confidential.. once they have copies of your info ??

just some thoughts,
RGPHNX
PS- remember to vote